Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Roses and squash blossoms

It's finally summer weather here in Colorado. It seemed to transform almost overnight, from cold mornings and snow showers to 90 degree days. Our backyard has been blooming - and not due to anything we've done. We have several bushes with small yellow flowers that have been blooming since May. And we have roses! 5 different colors - pink, red, yellow, peach, and a deep purpley-red. Despite our neglect, they're doing quite well. One type of plant in our yard I can take credit for - the squash. Back in April I planted several types of seeds - mostly veggies, but some herbs and flowers. The only ones that really took were the squash. 3 squash plants are alive and well in a border garden right by our deck. This week they started blossoming. I've heard of people eating squash blossoms in fancy dishes, but I'm afraid if I pick the blossoms then we may not get the actual squash. Anyone know if this is true? Does the plant have to retain the flower to grow the veggie? In the meantine I'll just enjoy the beauty of the squash blossoms next to the roses.

3 comments:

Joe said...

yes, you can eat the blossoms. the female blossoms need to stay on to make the squash. the females are the swollen ones. you can pick off a single male blossom, use it to hand-pollinate the female blossoms, and then pick the rest of the male blossoms to use for your fancy-smancy dish.

AliR said...

Wow, Joe! You know a lot about male and female plants! More than I knew!

There should be a love poem for pea blossoms.

AliR said...

Oops....I thought I was writing about peas for some reason. Clicked on the wrong comments. Sorry!